


Not So Bad Tuvok

by Caladenia



Series: Bad Ensign on Voyager [3]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Bad Ensign, Vulcans always win, reference: sex game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caladenia/pseuds/Caladenia
Summary: Following Harry's mishap (seeBad Ensignby Curator) and the interrupted seductive scene between Kathryn and Chakotay (seeBad, Bad Crewman Janewayby sara_sedai), Voyager's captain is pondering her next move as the Bad Ensign game sweeps through the ship.





	Not So Bad Tuvok

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Curator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curator/gifts), [sara_sedai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sara_sedai/gifts).



* * *

“Come on, Tuvok. You obviously know the game. Ever actually…?”

“Played it, Lieutenant Paris?”

Always tuned to what was happening with her crew, Captain Janeway dipped her head towards the conversation on the other side of the mess hall galley.

Neelix emerged from the stasis pantry, ever so keen to help. “Captain, is the coffee pot empty? Let me fill it up for you.”

Kathryn murmured a distracted thank you. Even from ten feet away, she could see Tom’s normally cocky stance deflating. Damn if she had not missed Tuvok’s answer.

“It was well before your time, when Vulcan cadets were still relatively few,” Tuvok said to Tom’s muffled question.

What? Tuvok? Playing the Bad Ensign game? That was not the Tuvok she thought she knew so well. A certain female Vulcan cadet, two years ahead of her, on the other hand—

“There you are, Captain,” said Neelix. “Hot and strong, as you like it.”

The chat between her pilot and her Chief of Security demanded nothing less than her full attention. “Sorry, can’t stay Neelix. Reports to read, rosters to confirm. You know the drill.”

Hoping her voice had not carried, Kathryn stealthily moved out of the galley and sat down at a table not too close to her bridge officers, but not too far either, so she could eavesdrop. She corrected herself. She was listening in. A Starfleet captain does not snoop.

She swiped the PADD in front of her without reading it, straining to hear the discussion. The red-alert incident had led to an interesting evening with her first officer playing the Maquis captain, and her fully embracing her crewman role. Five more minutes and she would have had him melting all over her. A pity they’d been interrupted, Kathryn thought. A good thing the game hadn’t gone any further, remonstrated the captain. But Chakotay had asked for a rematch, Kathryn argued. Demanded it in fact. With him as the ensign. Mmhh…

“You mean, they were throwing themselves at you?” Paris sounded both unbelieving and admirative.

“The rare-male effect I believe it’s called in xenobiological circles,” Tuvok said.

After years of working closely with Tuvok, Kathryn had noticed how his tone of voice sometimes carried emotions that his face would never betray. She was thankful his back was facing her, so she could discern all the nuances of his well-modulated baritone without the distraction of his stern features. Because, in this particular instance, he sounded…smug. And a smug Vulcan was an entirely different beast from a smug human.

“I assume this is the time when politeness dictates I should ask you the same question, Lieutenant, as you no doubt were expecting when you started this specific topic of conversation,” Tuvok added.

Smug and going for the kill. It was altogether a new side of her oldest friend on board _Voyager_. She had expected him to flee the room if asked so bluntly about his participation in the Bad Ensign game. Especially if it was Tom doing the asking.

“Well, you know, I didn’t exactly keep detailed notes.” Tom’s shoulders slumped another inch.

“Quite understandable.”

Kathryn refrained a smile. That was a low blow. Paris had a reputation to uphold on the ship, and Tuvok had just about cut out the young man’s legs from under him.

Obviously assuming the matter was at an end, Tuvok rose from his chair. “Now if you'll excuse me, Lieutenant, I am due on the bridge.”

Kathryn waited for the Vulcan to leave the mess hall before she approached Paris who was looking numbly at the star streaks outside.

“Tom, are you all right?” Kathryn asked with her best concerned frown in place.

The young man startled. “Captain, I did not realise you were here.”

“I could not help notice you seem distressed while talking to Tuvok. Did he deliver some bad news?”

Paris blushed, which was something she had not seen him do too often. In two days, she’d learned more about her bridge officers than in the past four years.

“We were just reminiscing about the old days at the Academy,” he said, shifting in his seat.

“I assume you don’t have fond memories of your time there.” She sipped on her coffee to mask her amusement at watching _Voyager_ 's pilot squirm. She had not forgotten his mirth at her discomfiture over Ensign Kim’s faux-pas.

“I had some good times. I liked the team sports,” he said.

She tilted her head sagely. “I’d always thought you were best suited for individual contact sports.”

He lifted an eyebrow and frowned at the same time as if he were pondering if she was implying what he thought she was. But one does not directly confront a captain twice on the subject. “Excuse me, Captain,” he said. “I promised B’Elanna I’d check the navigation system upgrade she installed on the flyers.”

Left alone, Kathryn pondered the conversation she’d overheard. There were more depths to the Bad Ensign game than she’d imagined back in her days as a cadet. Then, the stakes had been short-lived, if often very pleasurable. Here, on a small ship with a crew stuck together for decades, the risks and the rewards were multiplied many folds.

She took her PADD and coffee cup and walked towards the door. Speaking of rewards… Her first officer had been right, even though she would never acknowledge the fact. She had not really won that match with him. One defeat, thanks to Harry, and one draw because of Tuvok, both in less than a day. Her record was definitely looking shaky.

**⁂**

“Captain, you asked to see me.”

Ever the straight-laced Vulcan who had managed to shock even Tom.

“How many times?” she asked from her ready room desk, feeling rather dastardly. That would teach him. Even if he couldn’t know what he had interrupted.

“My apologies, Captain. What are you referring to?”

“How many times did you play the Bad Ensign game at the Academy? I didn’t hear your response when Tom asked you in the mess hall.”

Tuvok blinked. “Four hundred and sixty-nine times, Captain. Although I fail to see why you would be interested.”

It was her turn to blink. Kathryn did a quick calculation in her head. Twice a week? More than that, if she took the term breaks into account when most cadets returned home. He must have had the entire Academy falling at his feet. She’d been boasting to Chakotay about her own prowess. Not that the Commander hadn’t been bragging too. But four hundred and sixty-nine…

“That is…impressive, Tuvok.”

“As I explained to Mr Paris, Vulcans were still a rare occurrence at the Academy when I enrolled. We were encouraged by the then-Vulcan ambassador to Earth to widen our horizons and avail ourselves to what Earth was offering. A means to learn more about other cultures.”

Kathryn put her hand to her brow. “Yes, of course. Cultural exchange has always been high on the list of extracurricular activities.” Four hundred…

“Indeed,” Tuvok said, his face imperturbable. “May I presume you also played the game, Captain?”

It was not Kathryn’s habit to lie, but faced with Tuvok’s slightly supercilious demeanour, it felt like she was confessing her first kiss to her dad. “Yes, of course. I mean—”

“And did you enjoy the occasions?”

“I did, as a matter of fact, but I don’t think this is the discussion I want to have right now.” She brushed an invisible speck of dust off her uniform. Now she fully understood what Paris had experienced in the mess hall. She should just forget the whole thing and return to being the prim and proper captain everybody assumed she was even on her time off.

“On the contrary, Captain. It has come to my attention that the game has made a resurgence on board the ship lately, and I was planning to talk to you about it.”

Coughing would just sound a tad obvious, so she swallowed hard instead. “You do not approve?”

“It is not my place to approve or disapprove of a game played between two consenting adults. However, I thought it wise to curtail Mr Paris’ customary mercantile interest. The game should not lead to ship-wide gambling on the outcome.”

Tuvok had a point. The Bad Ensign game had the potential to disrupt the good functioning of the ship if left unchecked.

She could feel a smirk coming. “You’ve been asked to play it.” She moved around him, seizing him up, her hand in the air to silence him. “Don’t tell me. You always play the captain. Stands to logic.”

Tuvok stiffened. “You can be assured that my interest in the game is strictly professional. I have no intention in participating.”

“A pity. I am sure I could take lessons from you.” She smiled while returning to her desk, then did a double take on her own words. “If I was playing. Which I am not. Either. Like you.” Damn, damn, damn.

Before incriminating herself any further, she put her hands on the desktop, drawing some strength from the hard surface. “Thank you for bringing your concern to my attention, Tuvok. Consider Tom to be thoroughly chastened.” And her too, the way this conversation was going. The captain wins again, she thought.

Tuvok did not take the hint to leave. “The crew wouldn’t engage in such a game during their shifts,” he went on. “However, given the circumstances, it might be useful to provide clear protocols when the game is played off-duty.”

Kathryn froze. “Clear protocols?”

“To avoid unnecessary red alerts.”

She relaxed. Poor Harry. If Tuvok had heard about the Ensign’s indiscretion, the whole ship was aware of it now. “I can assure you that little incident won’t repeat itself.”

“I am not so certain, as the authorisation code is also active in both your private quarters and those of Commander Chakotay.”

Kathryn dropped down onto her chair with very little grace, but managed to say nothing in fear of squealing.

“In addition, there is the problem of uncalled-for interruptions,” Tuvok mercilessly continued. “I shall see what I can do to reduce those to a minimum while you two are playing.”

“I...”

“I’ll be on the bridge, Captain.”

When she’d told Tuvok to loosen up a few weeks back, she’d had not thought he would take her advice that much at heart.

**⁂**

She thought of rejoining her first officer on the bridge, leaning across the central console, and saying in that low voice of hers which always made him look at her lips, “Commander? What do you say to a rematch this evening?”

But Tuvok was right. Greater discretion was called for, especially within Tom’s earshot. She took her PADD instead. ~ _What would a female Maquis captain wear?~_ she sent.

The answer came less than ten seconds later, and she could not help but laugh. ~ _Lots of leather._ ~

She was so going to lose that game.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sara_sedai for the quick beta!
> 
> Now, who will take up the challenge to write the next (uninterrupted) seductive scene?

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Bad bad maquis? Or how to crash and burn in style.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18549373) by [TrekDr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekDr/pseuds/TrekDr)




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